Month: April 2012

Lauren Redniss, the author of the 2012-2013 Go Big Read selection, has received a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship in the Creative Arts for her work Thunder and Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future, to be released in 2014.

According to the Guggenheim Foundation’s website, Guggenheim Fellowships are often considered “midcareer” awards, for individuals who have “already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts.” As you read this year’s Go Big Read selection, we hope you’ll find Redniss’ Radioactive to be visually stimulating and creative, as well as a thought-provoking read. Click here to learn more Redniss’ Guggenheim Fellowship.

Yesterday we announced the 2012-2013 Go Big Read book selection: Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout, by Lauren Redniss. As with previous Go Big Read selections, Radioactive has the potential to supplement curriculum and encourage classroom and campus-wide discussion.

We’re excited to announce the Go Big Read book selection for 2012-2013! Chancellor Ward has selected Radioactive: A Tale of Love and Fallout, by Lauren Redniss. This book is a great fit for this year’s theme of innovation. Readers will learn about Marie and Pierre Curie’s lives and scientific discoveries through an unconventional format. The book has been called a “mash-up of love story, graphic novel, and science textbook,” and its illustrations- and glow-in-the-dark cover- are interesting and artistic on their own. Author Lauren Redniss traveled the world to write the book, interviewing atomic bomb survivors, weapons specialists, and the Curies’ own family, among others.

Late last year, we posted about Alabama’s changing immigration laws. Many claimed these laws were the toughest in the country, and remain opposed. Now, the state may revise these policies, revisiting areas that some found to be an attack on human rights and civil liberties. The new bill would, according to a New York Times article, “remove a requirement that public schools check the residency of new students and that illegal immigrants be barred from public colleges.” Other controversial aspects will also be considered.

While many states have sought new immigration policies because of slow federal changes, Alabama’s policies have faced legal issues from the federal government. Later this month, the constitutionality of the state’s immigration laws will go before the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, other states are becoming more cautious about their own policy changes.

Illegal immigration continues to make headlines across the country. In late March, a nationwide sweep detained over 3100 illegal immigrants. Nearly half of those detained were convicted felons, and arrests were made in all 50 states. While some have already been deported, many are awaiting immigration court.

This sweep is a result of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 2011 pledge to focus on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal histories. The operation involved nearly 2000 agents, who, according to one California news source, “typically knock on doors early in the morning before people go to work.”